Paul Pogba was taken off in United’s 1-0 to Newcastle and Jose Mourinho had to jump in and explain the substitution, to avoid speculation.

“No. No problems. I wanted a better way to come out in the first phase against a team that was defending in a very compact block. And bring Alexis [Sanchez] close to [Romelu] Lukaku, where he could be a second striker to try to win the game,” he told Sky Sports after the game.

Despite this explanation, something was not right with Pogba. He came on the pitch limping and allowed Jonjo Shelvey to boss the mid. Matic did most of the work in helping protect the United backline.